Legal Blog

Family Conflict Among Siblings and Cousins: Clarity is Key

October 19, 2016

In the current financial times in which we live, where often times the structure of the family is complex, it has become increasingly prevalent that siblings or half-siblings and on some occasions, cousins will get into significant conflicts...

It's Alive! Federal Court Finds A Pulse in the Expired Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act

October 19, 2016

In February of 2009, during the height of the residential foreclosure crisis, this column discussed the federal Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act (the “Protecting Tenants Act”). That federal law was meant to provide some protection to tenants...

Portability and Pre-Marital Agreements: Who Gets the Benefit?

October 17, 2016

There is a unique interaction between estate taxation and family law which has arisen as a result of the portability election for estate taxes which was enacted several years ago. Portability is the concept of allowing a surviving spouse to...

Virginia Adopts Transfer on Death Deeds

September 13, 2016

Imagine that a listing agent meets with a property owner about potentially listing the owner’s property for sale. During the meeting, the owner reveals that he recently signed and recorded a deed transferring the property to his daughter. Can the...

Interfamily Notes and Refinancing

September 12, 2016

An often overlooked technique when it comes to family planning is the interfamily loan. For a number of years, the primary focus with respect to transfers between family members was the potential tax for gift and estate tax purposes which could be...

The SCRA Is Not Bulletproof

August 15, 2016

​The Servicemembers’ Civil Relief Act (“SCRA”) is a powerful shield protecting military servicemembers against overreaching by creditors. The United States Supreme Court has opined that the SCRA should be read “with an eye friendly to those who...

Specialized Trust Planning, Income Taxes, and Asset Protection

June 08, 2016

Over the last several years, we have seen a significant, perhaps even a sea-, change in the estate planning environment. For many years, practitioners were focused on transfer taxes as the tax rates were high and the exemptions were low. Then,...

The Importance of Titling Property: Getting it Right the First Time

June 01, 2016

We are now in an environment where we have far greater options when transferring property than was the case thirty years ago. In addition to the traditional probate process, either with or without a Will to heirs, we currently have a variety of...

Mitigation Banks’ Uncertain Future

April 26, 2016

Developments across the country in recent years put into question the financial viability of establishing mitigation banks that provide compensatory mitigation for unavoidable impacts to waters of the United States that are permitted under Section...

Erin Andrews From Ten Thousand Feet

March 04, 2016

Beyond doubt, Erin Andrews was emotionally injured by the conduct of Mr. X when he surreptitiously altered Ms. Andrews’ hotel room door peephole so that he could video her o’natural and then publish the video on the internet. Ms. Andrews was a...